Dirk van Duijvenbode claims Players Championship Four title
Dirk van Duijvenbode clinched the Players Championship Four title with an 8-2 rout of Ryan Searle in the final in Barnsley on Sunday.
Van Duijvenbode came through three last-leg shoot-outs on the way to sealing his fourth PDC ranking title and denying Searle a second title in as many weeks.
The Dutchman also landed 35 maximums to equal the record for the most 180s recorded in a Players Championship event – a tally previously achieved by Dave Chisnall 12 months ago.
Van Duijvenbode began his run with a battling 6-4 success against Mervyn King from 4-2 down, before firing in a 12-darter in the deciding leg against his compatriot Geert Nentjes and coming through another tough tie 6-4 in the Last 32 against Callan Rydz.
The 30-year-old produced his performance of the day in his Last 16 show-down against Jonny Clayton, defying a 104 average from the Welshman to triumph with a blistering 108 average of his own.
After edging out Stephen Bunting in another decider, Van Duijvenbode then survived three match darts to stun Joe Cullen in a breathless Semi-Final, landing nine 180s to prevail 7-6 with a 100.7 average.
Searle drew first blood in a scrappy start to the final, but Van Duijvenbode soon exerted control, winning the next two legs in 12 and ten darts to seize the initiative.
Searle responded with a 124 checkout on the bull to restore parity at two apiece, only for Van Duijvenbode to reel off six successive legs to triumph with a 100 average.
“I think I was at the top-level of my focus,” admitted Van Duijvenbode, who claimed a brace of Players Championship titles in 2022.
“I love playing Ryan because he plays at a nice tempo. He’s very good so you know you have to perform well, but he doesn’t try any tactics. I love the man.
“I didn’t love it last week when he beat me from 5-3 down, and he went on to win the event! I am glad I won it today though.
“This is my fourth ProTour title, so hopefully now I can win a European Tour title or a televised title this year, but every win is special.
“I want to improve every year. Eventually, my main goal is to be World Champion. In my mind I’m still a long way from that, but I’m just trying to improve every year and look critically at my game.”
Searle, winner of Players Championship One last Saturday, continued his scintillating start to the season, posting four ton-plus averages in claiming the £8,000 runner-up prize.
The Somerset star relinquished just six legs in his opening three matches, following up a 6-3 success against Connor Scutt by averaging 103 in wins over Graham Hall and James Wade respectively.
Searle maintained this relentless standard to account for Dutch duo Jeffrey Sparidaans and Maik Kuivenhoven, before defying a late rally from Chisnall in a topsy-turvy Semi-Final.
Chisnall was punished for a lacklustre start to his Semi-Final clash, but the Morecambe star claimed the scalp of Josh Rock and averaged over 100 in three matches.
Former Masters champion Cullen also impressed to reach the Last Four, averaging 105 and 108 in wins over Raymond van Barneveld and Jim Williams in the latter stages.
Williams and Bunting continued their bright starts to 2023 before succumbing in the quarter-finals, where they were joined by surprise packages Kuivenhoven and Kciuk.
Clayton and Van den Bergh were among the high-profile names to feature in the Last 16, alongside Players Championship Two runner-up Simon Whitlock and Van Barneveld, who registered impressive wins over Danny Noppert and Adrian Lewis.
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Players Championship Four Results
Sunday February 19
First Round
Jamie Hughes 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Robert Owen 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-3 Luke Humphries
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-1 Steve Lennon
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Arron Monk
Keane Barry 6-2 Damian Mol
Jose De Sousa 6-0 Lewy Williams
Ronny Huybrechts 6-5 Ted Evetts
Stephen Burton 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Christian Kist 6-2 Karel Sedlacek
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Danny Jansen 6-4 Devon Petersen
James Wade 6-2 Adam Warner
Matt Campbell 6-4 Jimmy Hendriks
Ryan Searle 6-3 Connor Scutt
Graham Hall 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Alan Soutar
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Ricky Evans
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-1 Ross Smith
Chris Dobey 6-2 Scott Waites
Andy Boulton 6-2 Gary Anderson
Martin Schindler 6-2 Adam Gawlas
Adam Smith-Neale 6-4 George Killington
Brendan Dolan 6-4 William O’Connor
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Richie Burnett
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Kevin Burness
Jules van Dongen 6-3 Radek Szaganski
Madars Razma 6-5 Gian van Veen
Robbie Knops 6-3 Callum Goffin
Josh Rock 6-3 Nick Kenny
Tony Martinez 6-1 Scott Williams
Jim Williams 6-2 Pascal Rupprecht
Niels Zonneveld 6-1 John O’Shea
Damon Heta 6-3 Jeff Smith
Boris Krcmar 6-4 Martijn Kleermaker
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Luc Peters
Ian White 6-1 Vincent van der Voort
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Brian Raman 6-5 Jacques Labre
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Luke Woodhouse
Joe Murnan 6-4 Danny van Trijp
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Danny Noppert
James Wilson 6-1 Chris Landman
Dylan Slevin 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Daniel Klose 6-4 Shaun Wilkinson
Joe Cullen 6-3 Steve Beaton
Owen Roelofs 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Kevin Doets
Darren Webster 6-5 Keegan Brown
Rob Cross 6-2 Graham Usher
Ross Montgomery 6-1 Thibault Tricole
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Florian Hempel 6-0 Nick Fullwell
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Jose Justicia
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-0 Jurjen van der Velde
Callan Rydz 6-4 Nathan Rafferty
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Cameron Crabtree
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Mervyn King
Geert Nentjes 6-3 Jamie Clark
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Owen Bates
Lee Evans 6-0 Josh Payne
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Mike De Decker 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Second Round
Robert Owen 6-1 Jamie Hughes
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-1 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Keane Barry 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Ronny Huybrechts 6-4 Jose De Sousa
Stephen Burton 6-4 Christian Kist
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Danny Jansen
James Wade 6-4 Matt Campbell
Ryan Searle 6-2 Graham Hall
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Richard Veenstra
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Andy Boulton 6-5 Chris Dobey
Martin Schindler 6-5 Adam Smith-Neale
Ryan Meikle 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Jules van Dongen
Robbie Knops 6-4 Madars Razma
Josh Rock 6-1 Tony Martinez
Jim Williams 6-1 Niels Zonneveld
Damon Heta 6-3 Boris Krcmar
Ian White 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Brian Raman
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Joe Murnan
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 James Wilson
Dylan Slevin 6-4 Daniel Klose
Joe Cullen 6-2 Owen Roelofs
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Darren Webster
Rob Cross 6-3 Ross Montgomery
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Florian Hempel
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Callan Rydz 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Geert Nentjes
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Lee Evans
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Mike De Decker
Losers: £750
Last 32
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Robert Owen
Keane Barry 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-2 Stephen Burton
Ryan Searle 6-1 James Wade
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Martin Schindler 6-0 Andy Boulton
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Josh Rock 6-3 Robbie Knops
Jim Williams 6-2 Damon Heta
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Ian White
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Joe Cullen 6-5 Dylan Slevin
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Rob Cross
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Callan Rydz
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-2 Keane Barry
Ryan Searle 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-4 Martin Schindler
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Josh Rock
Jim Williams 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Joe Cullen 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Ryan Searle 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Krzysztof Kciuk
Joe Cullen 6-3 Jim Williams
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Ryan Searle 7-4 Dave Chisnall
Dirk van Duijvenbode 7-6 Joe Cullen
Losers: £4,000
Final
Dirk van Duijvenbode 8-2 Ryan Searle
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
